


Sunburns and the Adult Film Industry

by grimmlin



Series: Dating a Rock Star [8]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel & Benny Lafitte Friendship, Famous Dean Winchester, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, Musician Dean Winchester, Professor Castiel (Supernatural)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:56:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29803263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grimmlin/pseuds/grimmlin
Summary: Word of Castiel and Dean's engagement has gotten out and Cas has been avoiding his brother's phone calls for just a little too long. This is what happens when Gabriel decides to take matters into his own hands.Really, Castiel ought to have known better.This is an installment of the Dating a Rock Star series. If you haven't read the works before this one, I recommend starting at the beginning.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: Dating a Rock Star [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1557601
Comments: 13
Kudos: 53





	Sunburns and the Adult Film Industry

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still alive, I swear! I've been picking and poking at this for what feels like months but life has made it difficult for me to write lately. With the nicer weather my area has been having over the last week, it seems my will to write is returning so hopefully I'll be able to get the second part of this little installment up within the next week.

Cas peels one eye open to glare at his phone. If he were a wizard, the damn thing would be reduced to a pile of dust by now.

He knows that ringtone all too well and his eyes narrow as he reaches for the incessant device. He should have just silenced the thing after the second time Gabriel called this morning.

If he wanted to talk, he would have called his brother back.

Unfortunately, stubbornness runs strong in the Novak gene pool and Gabriel has chosen to ignore Castiel’s silent hints.

Benny gives him a quizzical look when Cas declines the call and tosses his phone back onto the small table between them with a huff. “Do I wanna know?” He asks, head lolled to the side so he can meet Castiel’s eyes.

“My brother, Gabriel,” Cas answers as he stretches his arms over his head with a satisfied groan. Dean might be busy with rehearsal, but that doesn’t mean Castiel can’t try to enjoy himself.

And the rooftop hotel pool is the perfect place to unwind after such a long drive.

“Don’t wanna talk to him?” Benny prods with all the subtly of a toothache.

“Nope,” Cas answers, popping the P with the amount of sass that is usually reserved for petulant teenagers.

“Uh-huh,” Benny says, seemingly content to let the subject drop as he turns back to face the sky, soaking up the hot Texas sun.

Cas hums in agreement and folds his arms behind his head as he tilts his chin skyward, determined to replenish his tan. Thankfully, the drive from Kansas City to Austin took place in Baby once the studio finally relented and allowed Dean to drive, or else Cas might have gone home weeks ago.

As it is, he’s quite enjoying his extended vacation.

He doesn’t get to do much sunbathing back home, the weather tends to be too cool and the spaces too public for his liking.

Finally, he sighs and turns his head toward Benny. “Gabriel is…” he trails off and wrinkles his nose. There are so many things he could compare his brother to, Cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation comes to mind but Gabe is plenty wealthy and plenty intelligent. He licks his lips before biting them. “Gabriel is almost as enjoyable as a fusion of Willy Wonka and a used car salesman.”

Benny’s head rolls toward him with an arched brow.

“He’s just… a lot.”

“S’okay, chief. If you don’t wanna talk to him, I ain’t gonna judge.”

Cas swallows hard with a nod. “Thanks, Benny.”

“Don’ mention it. Back to relaxin'?”

“Of course.” A smile curls at his lips and he shimmies into a more comfortable position. Dean was too busy complaining about the heat, apparently, Texas in July is too hot for his liking, but Cas is more than happy to soak up the sun and put thoughts of his brother out of his mind.

It’s enough that Balthazar has already claimed the position of best man and is determined to plan a bachelor party that Hugh Hefner could have been proud of.

He doesn’t need Gabriel’s influence in the mix or else good ole Hugh might actually rise from the grave to attend.

It doesn’t matter that he’s marrying a _man_.

Those two together would be a _disaster_.

He curls in on himself with a startled squawk as something firm lands on his bare stomach with a loud smack and he lowers his sunglasses just enough to aim a glare at Benny’s chuckling face.

“Lather up, chief. Don’t wanna burn,” the bodyguard says as he gestures to the bottle that he so kindly tossed on Castiel’s gut.

Cas narrows his eyes and continues to glare as he blindly sets the bottle aside. “It’s only been an hour. I’m fine.”

Benny laughs again and settles back into his chair. “Can’t say I didn’t remind ya,” he says easily as he takes a sip from his can of coke. “Don’t come cryin to me when you turn into a lobster.”

Cas pinches a frown and shakes his head fondly at the other man and his concern. “How did you manage to draw the short straw and get babysitting duty today?” Not that he’d complain about Benny’s company. Not at all.

He’s just surprised.

“Short straw?” Benny nudges his glasses down and stares open-mouthed. “Where on earth did you get that idea?”

Cas chuckles and shakes his head, warmth filling his belly even if he knows Benny is just being nice. “Well, yeah. Keeping an eye on me can’t be your idea of a good time.”

Benny huffs and shakes his head. “You really think I’d rather be standing backstage in some dark and dusty hallway instead of enjoying the sun and fresh air?”

Cas shrugs. Benny might have a point there but still, Dean is his friend. One of his best friends from what Cas has gathered.

“This is like a vacation, chief,” Benny says through a pleased groan as he stretches his arms high before turning a sloppy smile on Cas. “No paps, no screaming fans. Just hangin out with a friend by the pool.” He laces his fingers behind his head and turns his head to meet Cas’s eyes. “This is the life, right here.”

A friend? Cas’s smile grows and his heart warms as he holds up his can of soda as a toast. He’d have preferred a beer, but it didn’t seem fair since Benny is technically working even if they are just sitting out by the pool.

Apparently, Cas needs protection now.

He rolls his eyes at the situation and sets the bottle of sunscreen aside.

A little bit longer can’t hurt.

\--- Hours Later ---

As it turns out, a little bit longer did hurt him.

Badly.

“Dean,” Cas whines and jumps away when the cold gel touches his scorched shoulders.

His boyfriend’s answering cackle has Castiel turning to kill the man with his glare.

He pinches a frown.

Damn.

It looks like he still doesn’t have telekinetic powers.

“Shouldn’ta fallen asleep, Sunshine. Now turn around.” Dean waves his finger in a circle and arches his brows demandingly.

_Dammit._

Cas turns with a heaving sigh and braces himself against the frigid gel he knows is about to smeared over his sensitive skin. Of course, he just had to flop onto his stomach and fall asleep.

He jumps with a hiss when Dean’s hands make contact. “Are you some sort of sadist?”

Dean chuckles. “You are such a wimp.” His hands continue to smooth the aloe across the planes of Castiel’s back. “And I’m gonna ring Benny’s neck for letting this happen.”

Cas huffs. “Don’t you dare.”

“Why not?” Dean pauses to add a little more gel to his hands. “He should have reminded you to put sunscreen on. Not let you fall _asleep,_ ” Dean says with a sharp edge that has Cas turning around.

“He did remind me. It’s not his fault I didn’t listen.” Cas folds his arms over his (thankfully unburned) chest and fixes Dean with a level stare. “I brought this misery upon myself.”

Dean’s head shakes. “Still.” Dean pushes him back around. “I don’t like seeing you hurt.”

Cas’s heart gives a happy flutter but he rolls his eyes anyway. “I think you got it all.”

“Just a little bit more.” Dean smushes another freezing glob right at the center of Cas’s lower back with a devious chuckle as Cas gasps from the shock of it. “Now, go lay down until that dries. Unless you got burned a little lower?”

Cas shakes his head and swallows down his snort of laughter. “Ass.”

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Dean reaches for his swim trucks and Cas swats him away with a laugh.

“My ass is fine. Thank you very much.” Cas dances away and flops onto the bed with the tv remote in hand.

“Damn right it is,” Dean agrees, fingers ghosting over the swell of Castiel’s butt over his shorts.

“Stop it.” Cas swings his hand backward to protect himself but no matter how hard he bites his cheek, he can’t stop his smile.

“Awww, come on baby. Sunshine,” Dean says with trouble in his eyes. “You can’t lay there like that and expect me not to react.”

Cas turns so that he’s propped up on his hip, facing Dean. Mustering a _no-nonsense_ look that even a southern momma could be proud of, he arches a brow and shakes his head. “Here I am, in _horrible_ pain, and all you can think about is getting me naked? What happened to you not liking seeing me hurt?”

Dean looks cowed for about a half-second before his swagger returns and he’s smirking as he settles a hand on Cas’s hip. “Oh darling, I want to make you feel so good, you’ll forget all about your back.”

Cas’s lip quirks but he tamps it down, refusing to admit how Dean’s suggestive tone makes his dick perk up.

Dean brushes his fingers over the swell of Castiel’s ass before he gently tugs at the elastic waistband. “Come on babe, let me make you feel good.”

Cas hums thoughtfully and hides his budding smile. “You know what would make me feel better?”

“What?” Dean questions, tone nearly breathless as his fingertips sneak into Cas’s shorts.

Cas props his chin on his hands and shimmies his hips until he’s comfortable. “Tylenol. Would you get some for me out of my bag?”

Dean’s fingers retreat so quickly that Cas is almost surprised he didn’t hurt himself. “Seriously?”

He turns his head and blinks innocently. “Please?”

“Yes, Dear,” Dean says with a sigh as he turns toward the bathroom where Castiel’s toiletry bag is.

Cas watches Dean go with rapt interest and he can’t help but wonder how long he can milk the situation and how far Dean will be willing to baby him. In the meantime, he shifts so that he can tug his shorts just a little bit lower before getting back into position just as Dean calls out that he found the pills.

Dean returns in short order, rattling the pills around in the bottle. “How many?” He questions as he cracks open the mini-fridge to snag a bottle of water. His breath hitches when he catches sight of Castiel’s newly exposed skin and he snaps his jaw shut just as quickly as he narrows his eyes accusingly.

“Two, please,” Cas says in answer with the most innocent smile he can muster. Inside, his heart is doing happy cartwheels and he has to swallow down his smirk when the tips of Dean’s ears redden ever so slightly.

As always, Dean looks flawless but Cas still thrills at how easily Dean flushes. A Dean with red cheeks and desire written in his stare is quite possibly one of Castiel’s most favorite things. He’s so expressive, so responsive and delightfully easy to tease. “What?” He asks when Dean barely moves, barely breathes.

Rapidly darkening green eyes rake over Cas, from his bare shoulders to his half-bared ass and suddenly, Dean steps forward quickly as he wrenches the pill bottle open. “That’s the game you want to play?” Dean asks, clearly not expecting more than a smirk as an answer as he tips two pills into his hand and hands them over.

Once they’re safely in Castiel’s hands, Dean caps and tosses the bottle without care for where it lands. He doesn’t even wait until Cas is done with the bottle of water, he’s circled the bed and is running his hands over the swell of Cas’s ass, squeezing and kneading in a way that has heat spiking low in Castiel’s belly and it takes everything he has not to hum happily under Dean’s attention.

“Dean,” Cas whines with as much petulance as he can muster when his body wants to go along with Dean’s singular mindset.

Soft lips brush over the small of Castiel’s back, just below the stretch of sunburned skin, and Castiel’s breath hitches.

“Be honest, Sunshine, can I have you?” Dean mutters against Castiel’s overheated skin, his breath feeling cool enough to make Cas shiver. “Wanna make you feel so good.” He kisses his way lower without waiting for a response but he makes no move to take things further.

Cas knows he won’t.

Not until he has consent.

He lifts his hips in offering and he can feel Dean smile against his skin. “Please,” Cas says softly, his voice barely more than a breathy whisper. “Make me feel good.”

A strangled sound makes it to Cas’s ears that has him grinning as he turns to look over his shoulder. Dean wastes no time in pulling Cas’s swim shorts down and he kisses his way over the backs of Cas’s legs as he slides them off.

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” Dean mutters between tender kisses. “Can’t believe you’re mine.”

Cas hums his agreement and all but melts into the mattress when Dean’s fingers dig roughly into his calf, kneading away the lingering strain from his early morning run. “Ugh, your hands are magic.”

Dean’s answering chuckle has butterflies erupting in his stomach.

“Only the best for you, Sunshine,” Dean says, his voice low and smooth like fine whiskey. 

Dean’s hands slowly drift upward, kneading and massaging Castiel’s legs until he’s completely forgotten about the stinging burn of his reddened back.

He barely registers Dean’s mouth joining his hands, leaving soft kisses in his wake. He could float here forever but the soft scrape of teeth over his left ass cheek has Cas inching his legs apart in an invitation that Dean wastes no time in accepting.

Dean lightly nudges his fingers between Castiel’s cheeks, just enough to tease. “You sure?” He asks, whisper-soft and full of hunger, before pressing a kiss to each of the dimples at the base of Cas’s spine.

He turns his head with a sleepy smile and shifts his hips, grinding his interested cock against the bedding. “Fuck me, babe,” he says with no small amount of need laced into his tone.

Dean whimpers and Cas’s smile grows. They don’t do this often, usually, it’s Dean demanding Castiel’s cock. Not that Cas doesn’t like bottoming.

He does.

A lot.

But not nearly as much as Dean.

And Cas is most certainly not going to complain about that.

He can almost hear the click of Dean’s throat as he swallows and the weight on the bed shifts while Dean leans back to grab the bottle of lube they tucked inside the drawer of the nightstand.

Always be prepared.

That’s Dean’s motto, although he is no boy scout. Besides, Cas is pretty sure that keeping lube within reach at nearly all times isn’t what that phrase is supposed to mean.

But at least it works in their favor.

The snick of the cap closing is all the warning he gets before slick fingers pry between his cheeks and circle his hole.

It would be perfect if the shrill tone of Castiel’s ringtone wasn’t suddenly cutting through the room.

A groan pulls from his throat and Cas presses his forehead to the bed when Dean’s fingers disappear. “Gabriel,” he growls, recognizing the obnoxious tune immediately.

He built in the warning system for a reason.

“Your brother?” Dean asks after his own frustrated groan.

“My brother,” he mutters darkly as he pushes himself up with his arms to scan the room for his phone.

Dean beats him to it. “Here.” He snags Cas’s phone off the dresser and hands it over. The tent at the front of his pants makes Cas want to murder his brother through the phone line but he opts to decline the call instead.

“There. Now, where were we?” Cas tosses the phone in the direction of the sofa under the window and watches it bounce with a satisfied smirk.

Dean sucks in a breath and his eyes darken as he stalks forward. “You don’t want to talk to him?”

Cas can’t help his snort. When does he ever want to talk to Gabriel?

Besides, he knows what that call is about.

Crowley got his scoop as the first reporter to bear witness to the gleaming rings on their fingers.

Of course, that was after Sam and Balthazar were called and the band was told.

Dean had a bruise on his arm for a week from Charlie’s wrath at not being allowed to plan something spectacular like he had promised her.

Gabriel was purposefully not told.

Neither was Michael or anyone else in Castiel’s family and Crowley’s article ran two mornings ago.

He sighs and drops his brow to his hands with a shake of his hands. He’s been dodging Gabriel’s calls since about an hour after the article was released.

He’s going to need to deal with his brother sooner rather than later.

Just, not this soon.

He looks back to Dean with a tender smile stretching his lips. Given the choice between sex with Dean and listening to Gabriel complain about being the last to know… well, Cas knows which option he’ll take. “Gabriel can wait. Now, where were we?”

\--- Just a little while later ---

Turns out, making Gabriel wait was probably not his best decision. Not when he _knows_ that Gabriel knows he’s traveling on tour with Dean, courtesy of Crowley's article.

And especially not when he also knows that Gabriel is on a business trip just a two-hour drive from Austin.

“Chief, there’s a very loud man downstairs demanding to talk to Castiel. Says he's not answering the phone?” Benny’s drawl comes through the door just after his rapping knocking.

“What?” Cas squeaks, staring at the door as if Benny is going to burst into the room at any second. Talk about ruining the afterglow.

Dean tosses the wet rag they’ve just finished with into the bathroom sink and drapes a robe over Castiel’s back before going to the door. “What are you talking about?” He asks his bodyguard as Cas pushes himself into a sitting position.

He winces at the dull ache in his ass and gives thanks to his lucky stars that Dean has his back turned. He does not want Dean mother-henning him and feeling guilty because he thinks he was too rough.

He wasn’t.

Not even slightly.

Dean is a thoughtful and caring lover, but no amount of gentle can alter the inevitable ache that comes from lack of practice on Castiel’s end.

Unfortunately, Dean doesn’t quite take that idea to heart and he’ll brood for days while he treats Cas like he’s made of glass.

New flash.

He isn’t.

“Dammit, Gabriel.” He really should have known better. His fingers pinch his brow as his stomach settles much lower than it ought to. This can’t be happening. He does not want to deal with Gabe on the phone, let alone in person.

“Want me to get rid of him? I’d be happy to send the little shrimp packing.” Benny cracks his knuckles with an eager little smirk.

“Screw that,” Dean says as he tries to nudge Benny aside. “I’ll take care of him.”

“Dean!” Cas tugs the robe closed and ignores the way the soft cotton feels like sandpaper over his scorched shoulders. “You will not.”

Dean spins to face him, lips parted and eyes wide while Benny simply smirks and leans against the open doorframe.

“Give me five minutes to get dressed and I will come down to speak with him,” Cas says through gritted teeth while he has their attention. He doesn’t need their help dealing with his brother.

Besides, Gabriel is as harmless as he is infuriating. Which is to say, very.

“Want me to walk you down?” Benny asks as he folds his arms across his broad chest. The expression he aims at Castiel would be sobering if not for the red and white raccoon pattern Benny’s sporting from falling asleep in the sun earlier.

“I can handle my brother,” Cas grumbles as he digs through the drawer to find the loosest and softest shirt he has with him. He should have packed better.

“Here.” Dean hands him one of his oldest flannels, the green and white one that he typically only wears behind closed doors. “This should be comfortable enough.”

Cas struggles not to swoon when he meets Dean’s gaze, the love and tenderness radiating from those perfectly green depths are enough to make Castiel’s heart patters just a little bit faster and his own eyes crinkle at the corners when his lips turn upward. “Thank you, Dean.”

“You two are disgusting,” Benny says with a wave of his hand as he pushes off the door and steps fully into the hallway with an amused smile.

“Oh, you love it.” Dean rolls his whole head along with his eyes. “Don’t pretend.”

Benny makes fake gagging noises that draw a snorting laugh from Cas as Dean slams the door in his bodyguard’s face with a wide smile. “I’ll be waiting at the elevators!” Benny calls, his voice muffled by the thick door and Dean’s bark of laughter.

“I need coffee,” Cas says with a firm shake of his head once the door is closed and reality begins to sink in. “And whiskey.”

Dean arches a disbelieving brow and his head tilts ever so slightly. “You’re going to taint your coffee with alcohol?” He asks, harkening back to a conversation they had months ago about the horrors of ruining an already perfect beverage by adding Baileys to it.

Ugh.

Cas wrinkles his nose shoots Dean a glare. “I did not say mixed together.”

The grin that slowly creeps across Dean’s face should scare him.

On some level, it probably does.

But the larger problem right now is several floors beneath them.

Why oh why did he not just answer his stupid phone?

“One coffee and one whiskey coming right up.” Dean types out a message on his phone to someone, probably Benny if Cas had to guess, and sends it off before Cas can change his mind.

Not that he would.

He’d going to need a little liquid courage to introduce his fiancé to his brother.

“Just give me the bottle.” He groans and drops onto the bed, flopping backward with the bound and throwing his arms wide. His cherry red back screams bloody murder and a strangled gasp escapes his throat as his eyes jolt open wide.

Why is this his life? His whimper turns into a frustrated groan and he blindly grabs for a pillow that he immediately shoves over his face to stifle his scream.

“Babe, come on.” The bed dips next to him and Dean’s fingers toy with the bare skin of his knee where the robe has fallen open. “How bad can he really be?”

Cas scoots up onto his elbows, mouth open in an O of surprise. “How bad?” He shakes his head. “HOW BAD?”

Dean's lips curl upward even as he obviously tries to stifle his amusement at Castiel’s misery.

“How bad is replacing the cream in the Oreos with toothpaste?” Cas ignores the fire still nipping at his back in favor of staring Dean down. “Or hiding a dead fish under my bed just before I went to summer camp? When I got home after two weeks, the entire level of the house reeked and Dad blamed me! Or how about that Halloween when he made caramel-dipped ONIONS?!”

His heart hammers and his eyes burn all over again just thinking about it.

He loves his brother, he really does, but there is a solid reason for the distance he keeps between him and Dean.

And he isn’t really sure if it’s to protect Dean or himself.

“He…” Dean's eyes are wide as saucers and he shakes his head as he stifles a laugh. “He didn’t.”

“Oh, he did.” Cas folds his arms over his chest with an indignant huff.

The corners of Dean’s lips twitch uncontrollably the laughter in his eyes is obvious enough.

Typical older brother.

“I thought you were getting me coffee and booze.” Cas narrows his eyes, daring Dean to laugh.

“Garth is gonna bring it up,” Dean says as he pushes off the bed and pulls open the drawer of Castiel’s clothes, and starts to dig. “I think Gabriel sounds hilarious.”

Cas huffs and rolls his eyes. “You say that now, but just wait until he’s offering you mayonnaise-filled donuts.”

The look of abject horror on Dean’s face is almost worth the misery Cas had suffered from that particular prank. He hadn’t been able to eat mayo or donuts for months after that incident.

His phone starts screaming again and Cas hangs his head with a whimper while Dean picks it up off the small sofa and hands it over. “Talk to him.”

Cas whines like a petulant toddler, nearly stomping his foot to complete the effect. He is so not ready for this. He sucks in a deep breath that does nothing to quell the cresting swell of nerves roiling in his gut and hits the little green circle to answer. “Hello, Gabriel.”

“You’re alive! I was beginning to think your little rock god was just keeping you chained to his bed.” Gabriel’s voice comes over the line and Cas can’t help the long-suffering sigh that escapes him.

“Gabriel…”

“What? I was _worried_. Can’t a big brother worry?” Gabriel most certainly was not worried.

“No, you’re just meddling,” Cas says dryly. “What are you doing here?”

“You weren’t answering and I wanted to meet your secret lover.”

“Dean is hardly a secret.” How could he be with their pictures plastered all over the tabloids and social media?

Gabriel huffs on the other end of the line just as a soft knock sounds on the door to their room. “You kept him a secret from _me._ ”

“Gabe, I’m sorry, but I just wanted Dean to myself for a while longer.” Cas waves to Garth as Dean takes the oversized cup of coffee from the man and the fifth of Basil Hayden's Bourbon.

Figures that Dean would only order some of the best.

“Come have dinner with us. Since you’re here anyway,” Cas says quickly, looking to Dean for confirmation. “I’m sure we can get a reservation.”

“Eddie Vs?” Gabriel asks and Cas rolls his eyes.

“Really?” Cas should have known that his brother would have wanted to go to the most expensive and pretentious restaurant he can find.

He may be a pain in the ass, but he has expensive taste.

“How about the Iron Cactus? It’s down on 6th Street,” Dean stage whispers with a hand to his mouth to direct the sound. “And they have lots of tequila.”

Cas’s nose wrinkles in distaste and his stomach does an unwelcome little flip at the mere suggestion of that particular alcohol. It’s been well over a decade since the morning he was sure that he had somehow died and his father was right, he was doomed to an eternity in hell. There is no way that level of misery could have been born anywhere outside of the eighth circle of hell.

“Ooh, tequila!” Gabriel cheers on the other end of the line before Cas has a chance to give voice to the vehement rejection building in his throat.

He shakes his head with a sigh before nodding to Dean. “Iron Cactus it is, then.” Why is this his life?

“7 sound okay?” Dean questions and Cas nods, telling Gabriel the time before hanging up quickly if for no other reason than to prevent his brother from shattering his eardrum.

He drops onto the bed with a groan and blinks up at the ceiling, the pain in his back barely registering over the hurricane raging in his gut. He had really hoped to put this off a little longer.

He loves Gabriel, he really does, but… He sighs and scrubs a hand over his face.

Where the hell is Garth with his coffee? An eternity must have passed since Dean called him.

“Cas?” Dean’s bare feet are silent on the plush carpet but Cas doesn’t need to hear him to feel him edging closer.

Cas reaches out a hand, beckoning Dean onto the bed with him.

“Hey,” Dean says softly as he knees his way onto the mattress and settles next to Castiel, propped up on his elbows to look down at him with laughing green eyes.

“Stop it.” Cas rolls his head toward the wall. “You’re enjoying my misery.”

“Sunshine.” Dean nudges him and Cas turns his head to glare.

Naturally, Dean is immune to the telekinetic powers Castiel is carefully cultivating in his spare time.

“Tell me something good about him. He can’t be all bad if he means as much to you as you’ve said?” Dean leans down to peck the tip of Cas’s nose with a kiss that forces a smile from him.

“He tormented me as a child, but he always… he always had my back, you know?” Cas says with a huff of bitter laughter. “When I left home, he was the only one to check in with me and make sure I was okay.”

“See? This is going to be fine.” Dean kisses him again, this time a little slower.

Cas lets out a heavy sigh and nods. As much as his brother tortured him, he could always count on Gabriel to come through. He even tried to defend him to their father after their final confrontation, an action that got Gabriel banned from the family for over a year.

Gabriel had only told him about that much, much, later… when they were celebrating Castiel earning his acceptance to his choice of graduate school and under the influence of copious amounts of alcohol.

Now, Cas has always been an emotional drunk. He knows this. Gabriel knows this. Everyone who has ever drank with him knows this. Still, that knowledge hadn’t stopped Gabriel from being surprised when Cas had burst into grateful tears and clung to his brother as if his life depended on it.

Cas chuckles a little to himself at the memory. And it _is_ a memory. There is no possible way that he drank so much that he blacked out that moment of his memory and only knows of his clingy, melodramatic, and somewhat snot-faced teary gratitude because Gabriel teased him mercilessly for months afterward.

Nope.

No way.

He totally remembers everything from that night.

And if Gabriel says anything different, he’s a dirty rotten liar who lies.

“He’s always been there when I needed him,” Cas admits quietly, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves when he notices the soft way Dean is staring at him.

“I’m sure we’ll get along fine,” Dean says, clearly intending to comfort him but Castiel knows better.

“Yeah, sure,” Cas agrees even as his insides are cringing.

Gabriel is a menace and there is no way that Dean can be prepared.

There is no way that Cas can be prepared. He slumps against Dean with a miserable groan.

This is going to be a disaster.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this silly little story!


End file.
